fti«  JIISTorftAl  SDRVIY 


1 


IT 

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THE 


CAIRO  EXPEDITION 


Illinois'  first  l^espo^se 
'9  tl?<?  \aty  Qiuil  u/ar 


Expedition  from 
to  C^airo 


BY 

A.    H.    BURLEY 


THE 

CAIRO  EXPEDITION; 

ILLINOIS   FIRST  RESPONSE  IN  THE  LATE  CIVIL 

WAR — THE  EXPEDITION  FROM 

CHICAGO  TO  CAIRO. 


HON.   AUGUSTUS    HARRIS    BURLEY. 


READ  BEFORE  THE  CHICAGO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY,  AT  ITS  ANNUAL 
MEETING,  TUESDAY  EVENING,  NOVEMBER  19,  1890. 


CHICAGO: 

FERGUS    PRINTING    COMPANY. 
1892. 


9X5. 

• 


o 


THE    CAIRO    EXPEDITION. 

By  Hon.  AUGUSTUS  HARRIS  BURLEY. 


AS  the  years  go  by,  and  one  by  one  the  actors  in  and 
spectators  of  the  scenes  of  the  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion pass  away,  it  seems  necessary  and  proper  that  all  of 
us  should  make  some  record  of  what  we  saw  or  knew  of 
the  anxious  and  trying  times  in  the  spring  of  1861. 

The  general  history  of  the  war  has  been  written  by  a 
number  of  able  authors,  I  wish,  only,  to  add  what  came 
within  my  own  knowledge,  as  to  the  part  taken  by 
Chicago  at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

From  the  time  when  the  steamer  Star  of  the  West  was 
fired  upon,  January  9,  1861,  and  driven  to  sea  from  the 
entrance  to  Charleston  harbor,  the  people  throughout 
the  North  were  uneasy  and  excited,  but  no  one  could 
believe  that  a  serious  attempt  would  be  made  to  disrupt 
the  Union  of  the  States  or  .destroy  a  government  that 
had  existed  for  nearly  a  century,  and  which  had  been 
consecrated  by  the  deeds  and  lives  of  so  many  noble 
men. 

April  12,  1 86 1,  when  the  citizens  of  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  opened  fire  on  Fort  Sumter,  and  the  gallant 
Maj.  Robert  Anderson,  to  save  the  lives  of  his  soldiers, 
struck  the  Flag  of  our  Country,  the  news  went  through 
the  North  like  an  electric  shock;  quickly  recovering  from 
the  stunning  blow,  the  people  felt  that  war  had  actually 
come  and  though  cheeks  paled,  lips  were  firmly  set,  and 
eyes  flashed,  showing  the  determination  by  all  patriots  to 
stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  and  preserve  the  Union  and 
the  Government  at  any  cost  of  life  and  treasure. 

Friday  evening,  April  19,  a  mass-meeting  of  citizens 
was  held  in  Bryan  Hall  (now  the  Grand  Opera  House)  at 


2  THE   CAIRO   EXPEDITION. 

which  patriotic  speeches  were  made  and  resolutions  were 
adopted  to  sustain  the  government,  suppress  the  rebel- 
lion, and  maintain  the  Union.  % 

A  subscription  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  was  imme- 
diately made,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  carry  out  the 
wishes  of  the  people  as  expressed,  and  to  use  the  money 
in  assisting  the  government. 

The  following  named  citizens  were  appointed  as  such 
Committee : 

EDWARD  H.  HADDUCK,  JULIAN  SIDNEY  RUMSEY, 
LAURIN  PALMER  HILLIARD,  ORRINGTON  LUNT, 

BENJ.  F.  CARVER,  PHILIP  CONLEY, 

FRED'K  LETZ,  P.  L.  UNDERWOOD, 

GEORGE  ARMOUR,  JOHN  JAMES  RICHARDS, 

HIRAM  E.  MATHER,  F.  GRANGER  ADAMS, 

JOHN  L.  HANCOCK,  HORATIO  GATES  LOOMIS, 

ROBERT  LAW,  GEORGE  W.  GAGE, 

ALEXANDER  WHITE,  CHAS.  GUSTAVUS  WICKER, 

REDMOND  PRINDIVILLE,  GURDON  S.  HUBBARD, 
EDWARD  ILSLEY  TINKHAM,  THOMAS  J.  KINSELLA, 

ROSELLE  MARVIN  HOUGH,  ELIPHALET  WOOD, 

NELSON  TUTTLE,  HOMER  E.  SARGENT, 

JOHN  GAGE,  U.  H.  CROSBY.* 

Mr.  Hadduck  declining  to  act  as  chairman,  I  was 
requested  to  take  his  place.  Samuel  Hoard  was  secretary. 

The  Hon.  Julian  S.  Rumsey  gave  the  use  of  his  build- 
ing, 44  and  46  LaSalle  Street,  without  charge,  and  the 
committee  was  in  session  daily  from  early  morning  until 
late  at  night. 

Reports  were  constantly  made  to  the  committee  of 
traitors  and  treason,  of  threats  to  burn  elevators,  to  blow 
up  the  powder-magazines,  and  to  do  other  mischief,  and 
thus  aid  the  so-called  confederacy.  The  committee  had 
guards  placed  to  watch  all  important  and  threatened 
buildings. 

*  These  names  were  obtained  from  the  Chicago  Tribune. 


THE  CAIRO   EXPEDITION.  3 

Not  a  keg  of  powder  was  permitted  to  be  taken  from 
any  of  the  magazines  without  the  consent  of  the  com- 
mittee, who,  before  issuing  a  permit,  had  to  be  satisfied 
that  it  went  into  loyal  hands,  for  a  legitimate  purpose. 

The  arbitrary  powers  assumed  by  the  committee  could 
only  be  justified  by  such  an  exigency,  but  all  loyal  citizens 
united  in  submitting  to  their  restrictions  and  sustaining 
their  acts. 

April  19,  the  following  despatch  was  sent  by  Gov. 
Richard  Yates  to  Gen.  Richard  Kellogg  Swift,  the  then 
commander  of  the  militia  of  this  military  district : 

"As  quick  as  possible  have  as  strong  a  force  as  you 
can  raise,  armed  and  equipped  with  ammunition  and 
accoutrements,  and  a  company  of  artillery,  ready  to 
march  at  a  moment's  warning.  A  messenger  will  start 
to  Chicago  tonight. 

"RICHARD  YATES,  Commander-in-Chief." 

The  morning  of  April  20,  Mr.  John  W.  Bunn  appeared, 
as  the  governor's  messenger,  and  announced  to  Gen. 
Swift  and  the  committee,  that  all  diligence  should  be 
used  in  raising  and  equipping  the  force,  and  that  its  desti- 
nation must  be  kept  a  profound  secret. 

Gen.  Swift  issued  his  orders  for  the  militia  to  muster, 
but  with  the  exception  Of  a  few  independent  companies, 
small  in  numbers,  his  force  was  composed  of  volunteers — 
all  told  to  the  number  of  400,  as  per  Gen.  Swift's  telegram 
to  Gov.  Yates,  dated  April  21 — the  adjutant-general's 
report  says  595,  but  he  included  some  companies  that  did 
not  arrive  in  time.  The  force  included  four  cannon  and 
forty- four  horses. 

The  war-committee  borrowed  from  a  Milwaukee  com- 
pany fifty  muskets,  but  the  force  was  largely  armed  with 
squirrel- rifles,  shotguns,  single-barreled  pistols,  antique 
revolvers,  and  anything  that  looked  as  if  it  would  shoot, 
that  could  be  obtained  from  the  gunstores,  second-hand 
and  pawnshops. 


4  THE   CAIRO   EXPEDITION. 

The  State  having  neither  money  nor  arms,  our  com- 
mittee borrowed  or  bought  the  arms  and  commissary 
stores,  and  advanced  from  its  funds  the  money  necessary 
for  the  purchase  of  everything  required  that  could  be 
obtained  on  such  short  notice. 

At  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  April  21,  the  expedition 
started  from  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  station,  amid  the 
cheers  of  the  people  and  the  screaming  of  steam-whistles. 

An  expedition  starting,  as  this  did,  for  an  unknown 
destination,  you  may  conceive,  was  a  source  of  anxiety 
to  all  and  especially  to  those  whose  sons,  brothers,  and 
husbands  had  gone.  Gen.  Swift  was  without  military 
training  or  knowledge,  but  he  had  with  him  the  late  Gen. 
Joseph  Dana  Webster,  then  captain,  as  aide,  and  to  whom 
the  governor  gave  the  authority  to  supercede  Gen.  Swift 
at  any  time  should  it  become  necessary. 

After  providing  the  force,  the  next  thing  was  to  get  it 
to  its  destination  before  any  advice  could  be  given  of  it 
to  the  people  of  the  southern  part  of  the  State.  Some  of 
our  excited  citizens  wished  the  committee  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  railroad  and  telegraph,  but  cooler  counsel 
prevailed,  and  the  railroad  and  telegraph  companies' 
officers  patriotically  aided  the  authorities  in  every  way, 
thus  preventing  any  knowledge  of  the  expedition  being 
sent  in  advance. 

To  this  end,  no  telegrams  were  permitted  to  go  over 
the  lines,  and  the  regular  train  on  the  Illinois-Central 
Railroad  was  started  at  the  usual  hour,  7  p.  m.,  but  with 
orders  to  stop  at  a  certain  place,  until  the  military  train 
had  passed,  giving  to  passengers,  as  an  excuse  for  such 
delay  that  some  unavoidable  accident,  or  other  cause, 
prevented  their  going  on.  With  this  arrangement,  the 
military  train  passed  unheralded  the  length  of  the  State, 
and  rolled  into  Cairo  to  the  astonishment  of  all  and  rage 
of  many  of  its  citizens. 

It  seems  strange  that  such  secrecy  should  have  been 
necessary  in  any  northern  state,  but  we  were  surrounded 


THE   CAIRO   EXPEDITION.  5 

by  traitors  in  Chicago,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the 
people  of  Southern  Illinois  sympathized  with  the  South, 
and  to  the  late  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  and  the  noble 
Gen.  John  A.  Logan,  we  owe  the  salvation  of  our  State 
from  civil  war  within  its  borders. 

Knowing  the  sentiment  of  the  people,  the  fear  was  that 
they  would  destroy  the  long,  wooden  trestle-work  across 
the  Big  Muddy  River,  which  they  could  have  rendered 
impassible,  in  an  hour,  by  burning  it.  There  was  also  fear 
that  the  rebels  would  seize  Cairo,  as  being  a  point  of  great 
strategic  importance.  It  was  afterward  learned  that 
Cairo  would  have  been  seized  in  forty-eight  hours,  had 
its  occupation  been  delayed. 

Preparing  the  expedition  to  Cairo  brought  us  face  to 
face  with  the  fact  that  the  State  of  Illinois  had  not, 
within  its  control,  guns  enough  for  one  regiment.  Indi- 
ana, Wisconsin,  and  Iowa  sent  agents  here  asking  for 
arms;  Michigan,  in  reply  to  the  committee's  request  for 
a  loan  of  arms,  said  they  had  none  that  could  be  spared, 
not  having  enough  for  their  own  men. 

The  committee,  in  view  of  the  condition,  decided  to 
send  East  for  arms,  and  gladly  accepted  the  offer  of 
Stephen  Francis  Gale  to  go  in  search  of  guns,  and  I  have 
the  pleasure  of  giving  you  his  own  account  of  the 
mission: 

"A.  H.  BURLEY,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Citizens'  Com- 
mittee of  the  City  of  Chicago: 

"On  the  2Oth  of  April,  1861,  you  informed  me  that  I 
had  been  selected  by  your  committee  to  proceed  East  for 
the  purpose  of  procuring  arms  and  ammunition  for  the 
troops  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 

"Arrangements  were  quickly  made  for  my  departure, 
by  obtaining,  through  R.  N.  Rice,  Esq.,  superintendent  of 
the  Michigan-Central  Railroad,  a  free  and  unobstructed 
track  to  Detroit;  and  in  one  hour  was  on  my  way. 

"  Wired  the  governor  of  Michigan  to  meet  me  at  the 


6  THE   CAIRO   EXPEDITION. 

station  at  Jackson  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  if  possible 
a  temporary  supply  from  the  arsenal  at  Dearborn.  His 
answer  was  'We  can  not  let  you  have  a  single  musket, 
our  State  has  called  for  more  men  than  we  can  arm.' 

"Reached  Detroit  in  six  hours  and  thirty  minutes; 
wiring  on  my  way  to  Mr.  Rice  to  meet  me  on  my  arrival 
at  the  station,  and  meantime  to  make  arrangements  with 
the  Great- Western  Railway  for  an  engine  to  take  me 
to  Niagara  Falls;  also  to  put  me  in  communication  with 
some  one  in  high  authority  in  Canada. 

"  Mr.  Rice  at  once  prepared  a  letter  to  Hon.  H.  C.  R. 
Beecher,  the  queen's  counsel  at  London,  who  said  he 
would  lay  my  request  before  the  government  without 
delay  and  make  answer  to  my  request  as  soon  as  he 
could  get  a  reply.  On  the  22d  instant,  I  received  a  des- 
patch, care  of  Erastus  Corning,  Albany,  as  follows: 

"  'Application  unsuccessful,'  and  evidently  to  explain 
delay  adds:  'Government  does  not  take  the  telegraph  as 
a  means  of  communication.  Why  not  try  Lord  Lyons?' 

"  In  my  brief  conversation  with  Mr.  Beecher,  I  inferred 
that  however  well  disposed  the  government  might  feel,  a 
want  of  precedent  or  want  of  authority  might  prevent  the 
granting  of  my  request. 

"  My  time  through  Canada  was  five  hours  and  forty 
minutes.  Mr.  Rice,  at  my  request,  wired  New-York- 
Central  Railroad  to  'hold  east-bound  express  as  long  as 
possible,  for  special  on  its  way.' 

"The  regular  express  was  held  for  one  hour;  arriving 
forty  minutes  after  its  departure,  I  took  a  hot  engine  and 
overtook  the  express  at  Rochester. 

"On  my  arrival  at  Albany,  called  at  once  upon  Mr. 
Corning  who  promised  every  assistance  in  his  power. 
He  introduced  me  to  Gov.  Morgan,  who  said  '  there  is  an 
abundance  of  arms  in  the  arsenals;  every  State  can  get 
them;  and  you  can  get  all  you  want.  If  Gov.  Yates  will 
send  a  special  to  Washington  it  might  expedite  matters. 
The  Springfield  Arsenal  sent  us  eight  thousand  yesterday.' 


THE   CAIRO   EXPEDITION.  7 

"Tried  to  communicate  with  Washington,  but  found  it 
impossible,  as  the  wires  were  all  cut,  and  the  only  means 
left  was  by  special  messenger  to  accompany  troops,  either 
from  New  York  or  Philadelphia. 

"  Left  a  telegram  for  the  secretary  of  war  to  be  sent  as 
soon  as  the  li-ne  was  in  order. 

"The  saving  of  time  seemed  so  important,  I  hastened  to 
Springfield,  and  after  an  interview  with  the  superintendent 
of  the  arsenal,  he  said:  'I  see  your  necessities  and  will 
gladly  do  anything  in  my  power  to  aid  you  in  your 
efforts,  but  I  have  no  authority  to  deliver  arms  except  by 
an  order  of  the  secretary  of  war.'  To  this  I  answered  : 
'  I  understand  your  position  fully,  and  will  give  you  a 
guarantee  from  the  best  men  in  your  city  that  such  an 
order  shall  be  forthcoming  within  a  reasonable  time.'  At 
this  point,  friends  came  forward,  and  it  was  arranged  that 
I  should  have  five  thousand  stand  of  arms  for  the  State 
of  Illinois,  a  temporary  receipt  to  be  given,  and  proper 
vouchers  to  be  furnished  to  the  superintendent  in  the 
near  future.  The  arms  were  boxed  at  once  and  delivered 
at  the  railway  station. 

"  While  in  superintendent's  office  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  special  time-table  to  run  west  to  Albany,  I 
received  despatch  from  A.  H.  Burley,  Chicago,  saying  'Our 
State  has  twenty-one  thousand  arms  from  St.  Louis  this 
morning,'  also  a  second  one  from  the  same,  saying:  'We 
are  supplied,  do  nothing  more.'  Both  of  these  despatches 
were  under  date  of  April  26,  and  on  same  date  received 
answer  to  my  despatch  to  the  secretary  of  war,  saying: 

"  'An  order  has  been  issued  and  sent  to  the  governor  of 
Illinois  for  the  required  arms. 

'  SIMON  CAMERON,  Secretary  of  War.' 

"  My  application  to  the  commanding  officer  of  the 
Watertown  arsenal  was  successful,  and  on  the  26th  wired 
him  as  follows  :  '  Send  the  ammunition,  caps,  etc.,  as 
soon  as  possible  by  Boston  &  Albany  Railroad,  arrange- 


8  THE   CAIRO   EXPEDITION. 

merits    are    made    with    the    company    to    forward    with 
dispatch.     Mark  <^G^     Chicago,  111.' 

"  S.  F.  GALE. 

"  My  application  was  for  two  hundred  thousand  rounds 
for  smooth-bore  muskets  of  the  Springfield  pattern. 
Advices  from  Chicago  under  date  of  May  2,  informed  me 
that  the  ammunition  was  received." 

While  our  committee's  messenger  was  scouring  the 
East  for  guns,  Gov.  Yates  was  trying  to  get  the  United 
States  arms  from  Jefferson  Barracks  at  St.  Louis,  but  as 
the  barracks  were  surrounded  by  rebels,  who  were  deter- 
mined to  take  the  arms  for  their  own  use,  several  gentle- 
men, some  in  high  military  positions,  declined  to  under- 
take it,  but  Gen.,  then  Capt.  James  H.  Stokes  offered  to 
try  and  was  successful,  and  I  here  give  you  his  own 
account  of  his  expedition,  which  he  kindly  prepared,  at 
my  request: 

"CHICAGO,  111.,  May  7,  1889. 
"AUGUSTUS   H.  BURLEY, 

"No.  618  Opera  House  Block,  Chicago. 

" My  dear  Sir :-  -In  answer  to  your  kind  letter  of  the 
4th  inst,  I  take  much  pleasure  in  making  the  following 
statement: 

"Immediately  following  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  in 
April,  1861,  I  was  called  to  Springfield  by  letter  from 
Gov.  Yates  of  Illinois,  as  his  military  adviser.  A  few 
days  after  my  arrival  there,  Gov.  Yates  stated  that  he 
had  received  a  warrant  from  the  war  department  at 
Washington,  directing  the  ordnance  officer  at  the  St. 
Louis  arsenal,  to  turn  over  to  the  governor  of  Illinois, 
eight  thousand  muskets  (8000)  and  ammunition.  Gov. 
Yates  stating  at  the  same  time  that  he  had  in  camp  three 
thousand  volunteers  without  arms — that  he  had  offered 
the  warrant  to  an  officer  of  the  regular  army,  who 
declined  serving  it,  stating  that  it  was  impossible  to 
execute  it,  as  the  arsenal  grounds  were  surrounded  by 


THE   CAIRO   EXPEDITION.  9 

rebel  troops.  So  strong  was  the  apprehension  that  the 
rebels  would  frustrate  this  effort  to  relieve  the  arsenal, 
that  I  was  sent  from  Springfield  by  special  railroad  train, 
no  one  being  permitted  on  the  train  but  the  conductor 
and  the  necessary  employes. 

"Before  leaving  Springfield,  I  made  arrangements  with 
Mr.  Mitchell,  one  of  the  owners  of  the  Alton  &  St.  Louis 
Steamboat  Company,  to  meet  me  on  the  outskirts  of  St. 
Louis,  on  the  evening  of  the  second  day  thereafter.  On 
reaching  St.  Louis,  I  walked  down  to  the  arsenal  unob- 
served. Finding  the  outer  gate  of  the  arsenal  choked  by 
a  great  crowd  of  people,  principally  rebels,  I  met  a  picket 
guard  and  induced  the  sergeant  to  force  an  opening 
through  the  crowd,  landing  me  inside  of  the  arsenal 
gates. 

"Directed  by  the  inside  guard  to  the  ordnance-officer's 
quarters,  I  gave  him  the  warrant.  After  reading  it,  we 
went  to  Capt.  [Nathaniel]  Lyon's  quarters,  commanding 
post,  who,  after  reading  the  warrant,  expressed  a  decided 
opinion  that  it  was  impossible  to  move  the  arms  in  the 
face  of  the  large  rebel  force  then  surrounding  the  arsenal, 
which  was  said  to  be  about  eight  thousand  strong,  expect- 
ing daily  to  capture  the  arsenal  and  war- material.  Capt. 
Lyon  was  strong  in  his  opposition.  Capt.  Olcutt,  of  the 
ordnance  corps,  U.  S.  army,  urged  and  assisted  me  in  my 
efforts  to  convince  the  commanding  officer  that  the 
arsenal  and  its  contents  would  be  surely  captured  by  the 
rebel  troops,  therefore,  it  would  be  better  to  make  the 
effort  to  remove,  if  possible,  the  ordnance  stores.  After 
a  long  and  urgent  appeal,  Capt.  Lyon  consented  to 
comply  with  the  demands  of  the  warrant.  Thereupon  I 
started  back  to  St.  Louis,  to  meet  Mr.  Mitchell  by 
appointment,  and  settled  upon  the  plan,  and  the  time  for 
sending  his  steamer  to  the  arsenal,  which  was  to  be  at 
2  o'clock  a.m.,  the  following  night,  returning  to  the  arse- 
nal under  cover  of  the  night,  and  thereby  escaping  all 
notice.  Our  time  was  employed  in  trying  to  mislead  the 


10  THE   CAIRO   EXPEDITION. 

rebels.  To  this  end,  Capt.  Olcutt  the  next  day,  sent 
several  boxes  of  old  flint-lock  muskets  to  the  railroad 
depot,  in  St.  Louis,  as  if  for  shipment.  The  boxes  were 
greedily  seized  by  the  rebels,  with  great  exultation,  and 
much  glorification  was  made  on  account  of  so  important 
a  capture. 

"While  preparing  the  guns  for  shipment,  as  orderd  by 
warrant  from  the  war  department,  with  the  aid  of  Capt. 
Olcutt,  we  were  much  occupied  in  trying  to  convince 
Capt.  Lyon,  that  the  call  for  only  eight  thousand  guns 
would  not  relieve  the  arsenal  from  the  intended  attack  of 
the  rebels,  and  that  it  would  be  better  for  the  country  to 
remove  all  the  guns  in  the  arsenal  to  a  safe  place  in  Illi- 
nois, and  leave  the  rebels  nothing  to  fight  for.  Before 
the  end  of  the  day,  Capt.  Lyon  accepted  our  view  of  the 
case,  and  consented  that  I  should  remove  the  larger 
portion  of  the  arms,  retaining  only  what  was  necessary  to 
arm  and  equip  the  volunteers  under  his  command. 

"The  same  night  the  steamer  City  of  Alton  from  Alton 
quietly  floated  down  to  the  arsenal  dock,  reaching  it 
about  2  o'clock  a.m. 

"With  a  force  of  about  four  or  five  hundred  volunteers, 
two  thousand  boxes  of  muskets,  with  the  necessary 
ammunition,  a  complete  light-artillery  battery,  with  its 
ammunition  were  quietly  placed  on  board  the  steamer. 
In  all  there  were  about  twenty-three  thousand  (23,000) 
stand  of  arms. 

"During  the  evening  and  night  of  the  shipment,  seven 
or  eight  of  the  rebel  spies  were  captured  inside  of  the 
lines.  After  a  satisfactory  loading  of  the  arms  on  the 
steamer  was  made,  orders  were  given  by  the  captain  to 
cast  off,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  start  the  steamer, 
but  it  was  found  to  be  hard  upon  a  rock,  and  all  efforts 
failed  to  move  her  by  steam.  It  was  then  that  Capt. 
Lyon  under  the  pressure  of  great  excitement,  backed  by 
his  expressed  unwillingness  to  permit  the  arms  to  be 
taken  away,  accused  me  of  treachery,  with  the  intention 


THE   CAIRO   EXPEDITION.  II 

of  delivering  the  arms  to  the  rebels.  He  knew  that  I 
was  a  Southerner  by  birth  and  education,  and  supposed 
me  to  be  liable  to  any  of  his  suspicions. 

"I  bore  his  apprehensions  as  well  as  I  could,  and 
employed  my  efforts  in  having  the  boxes  and  guns  rrfoved 
from  the  bow,  where  the  pressure  was  the  greatest.  In 
the  course  of  an  hour  of  hard  work  by  the  soldiers,  the 
steamer  was  relieved.  It  again  floated,  and  we  started 
for  Alton  without  noise  from  escaping  steam,  the  captain 
directing  the  steam  to  be  discharged  in  the  coal-hole. 

"About  two  miles  up  the  river,  after  leaving  St.  Louis, 
the  channel  of  the  river  made  a  turn  close  up  to  its  west 
bank,  where  there  was  stationed  a  rebel  battery,  with 
their  camp-fires  burning,  apparently  all  asleep,  so  that 
the  steamer  passed  unnoticed,  reaching  Alton  about  six 
o'clock  a.m.,  finding  Mr.  Mitchell  on  the  dock  awaiting 
our  arrival. 

"So  soon  as  he  learned  that  we  had  on  board  twenty- 
three  thousand  stand  of  arms,  he  started  for  the  fire- 
alarm  bell,  and  rang  it  heartily,  raising  all  the  town,  under 
the  apprehension  of  a  fire.  The  mayor  of  the  city,  with 
a  large  crowd  of  citizens  collected  round  him,  and  when 
he  had  related  to  them  the  cause  of  his  ringing  the  bell, 
and  calling  for  volunteers  to  help  in  unloading  the 
steamer,  the  citizens  headed  by  the  mayor,  went  to  the 
steamer,  each  four  taking  a  box  of  guns,  and  soon  trans- 
ferred all  to  a  freight-train  already  standing  on  the  track 
near  the  wharf.  ^ 

"In  the  course  of  an  hour,  everything  was  moved  to 
the  cars,  and  in  safety  we  escaped  to  Springfield,  reaching 
there  about  2  o'clock  p.m.,  where  we  were  met  by  Gov. 
Yates,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  legislature. 

"The  end  of  this  little  effort  to  obtain  the  twenty-three 
thousand  stand  of  arms  to  arm  the  volunteers  already  in 
camp  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  as  well  as  a  portion  of  the 
volunteers  in  Wisconsin  and  Indiana,  was  received  and 
acknowledged  by  a  vote  of  thanks  to  myself,  passed  by 


12  THE   CAIRO   EXPEDITION. 

the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  approved  by 
the  governor  of  this  State.* 

"  It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  repeat  a  remark  made 
by  a  citizen  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  that  by  the  early 
removal  of  these  arms  from  the  arsenal  at  St.  Louis,  it 
destroyed  the  supremacy  of  the  rebel  forces,  and 
smothered  their  intended  invasion  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
also  keeping  the  rebels  from  taking  the  State  of  Missouri 
out  of  the  Union,  by  a  vote  of  secession  then  contem- 
plated. Very  respectfully, 

"JAs.  H.  STOKES."f 

The  arms  obtained  by  Mr.  Gale,  after  being  placed  on 
the  cars  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  were  stopped  and  returned 
to  the  United  States  arsenal  as  soon  as  the  success  of 
Capt.  Stokes'  expedition  was  known.  The  ammunition 
from  Watertown  for  the  arms  from  Springfield  came 
through  in  due  time,  and  was  forwarded  to  Springfield, 
Illinois. 

*  See  official  account  of  the  expedition  of  Capt.  Stokes  in  the  "  Report  of 
the  Adjutant-General  of  the  State  of  Illinois,"  Vol.  I,  page  241. 

t  James  Hughes  Stokes,  born  at  Havre  de  Grace,  Md.,  July  n,  1816;  was 
appointed  from  Maryland  a  cadet  at  West  Point,  N.Y.,  Military  Academy, 
July  i,  1831;  graduated  July  (,  1835,  and  promoted  in  the  U.-S.  army  to 
brevet  second  lieutenant,  and  assigned  to  2d  Artillery;  transferred  to  4th 
Artillery,  Aug.  14,  1835;  served  in  garrison  at  Ft.  Hamilton,  N.Y.,  1835  6; 
promoted  second  lieutenant,  4th  Artillery,  June  n,  1836;  in  operations  in 
Creek  Nation,  1836;  in  the  Florida  war  against  the  Seminole  Indians,  1836-8, 
being  engaged  at  the  battle  of  Okee-cho-bee,  Dec.  25,  1837;  in  the  Cherokee 
Nation,  1838,  while  transferring  the  Indians  to  the  West;  in  garrison  at  Ft. 
Columbus,  N.Y.,  1838;  promoted  first  lieutenant,  4tfc  Artillery,  July  7,  1838; 
on  quartermaster  duty,  purchasing  horses,  1838-9;  at  New  York,  1839-40; 
promoted  captain,  staff  assistant-quartermaster,  May  21,  1839;  in  Winnebago 
country,  1840;  in  Florida  war,  1840-1;  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  1841-3;  resigned, 
Sept.  30,  1843.  Proprietor  Clyde  Glass -Factory,  N.Y.,  1843-53;  treasurer 
and  secretary  of  New-York-and-Boston  Railroad  Company,  1856  8;  auditor 
and  local  treasurer  of  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  1858-61. 

Served  during  the  rebellion  of  the  seceding  States,  1861-5;  in  the  removal 
of  the  small  arms  from  St.  Louis  arsenal,  Mo.,  to  Springfield,  111.,  to  equip 
Illinois  volunteers,  April,  1861  (for  this  military  service  he  received,  May  2, 
1861,  the  thanks  of  the  legislature  of  Illinois);  as  State  commissioner  to 
purchase  arms  for  Illinois  volunteers,  May,  1861;  captain,  Illinois  Artillery 


THE  CAIRO   EXPEDITION.  13 

Much  credit  was  flue  to  the  officers  of  the  Michigan- 
Central  and  the  Great- Western  railroads  for  the  assistance 
and  dispatch  given  to  Mr.  Gale,  and  for  the  service  so 
rendered  no  bill  was  ever  presented  to  the  committee. 

In  order  to  correct  history  and  the  statement  of  the 
adjutant-general  of  the  State,  who  says  in  his  report:  "that 
the  batteries  were  unprovided  with  shot,  shell,  or  cannis- 
ter,  but  slugs  hurriedly  prepared";  I  wish  to  state,  that 
our  esteemed  citizen,  the  late  Philetus  Woodworth  Gates, 
started  the  fires  in  his  foundry  at  eleven  o'clock  Sunday 
morning  for  the  purpose  of  casting  cannon-balls,  and  the 
artillery  started  that  evening  with  four  hundred  rounds 
of  fixed  ammunition  for  its  four  guns. 

The  first  shot  of  the  war  fired  in  the  West,  was  a  shot 
cast  in  Mr.  Gates'  foundry  on  that  Sunday  morning,  and 
fired  from  a  gun  trained  by  Lieut.  John  Rudolph  Bots- 
ford,  of  Capt.  James  Smith's  company,  of  Chicago  Light 
Artillery. 

The  shot  was  fired  across  the  bow  of  a  steamboat  pass- 
Volunteers,  July  31,  1862;  in  command  of  Chicago  Board  of  Trade  Battery; 
in  Maj.-Gen.  Buel's  campaign  in  Kentucky,  Sept. -Oct. ,  1862,  being  engaged 
in  the  battle  of  Perrysville,  Oct.  8,  1862;  in  command  of  regiment  of  pioneers 
and  battery  in  Maj.-Gen.  Rosecrans'  campaign  in  Tennessee,  Oct.,  1862,  to 
Sept.,  1863,  being  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Stone's  River,  Dec.  31,  1862,  to 
Jan.  3,  1863,  in  several  skirmishes  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy;  capture  of  Chat- 
tanooga, Sept.  9,  1863,  and  battle  of  Chickamauga,  Sept.  19-20,  1863;  against 
the  rebel  Gen.  Wheeler's  raid  in  Middle  Tennessee,  Oct.  2-19,  1863,  in  the 
action  of  Farmington,  Oct.  8,  1863,  and  several  skirmishes;  in  the  Chatta- 
nooga campaign,  in  command  of  artillery  division,  Oct.,  1863,  to  Feb.,  1864, 
being  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  Nov.  23-4,  1863;  promoted 
lieutenant-colonel,  staff,  U.-S.  volunteers,  Feb.  10,  1864;  inspector  of  the 
quartermaster  department  of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi,  Feb.  10 
to  Aug.  22,  1864,  being  engaged  in  making  inspections,  chiefly  at  New  Orleans; 
mustered  out  of  service,  Aug.  22,  1864.  Reappointed  in  the  U.-S.  volunteer 
service,  with  the  rank  of  captain,  staff  assistant  adjutant-general,  U.-S.  volun- 
teers, Aug.  22,  1864;  promoted  brigadier-general,  U.-S.  volunteers,  July  20, 
1865;  served  in  the  defences  of  Washington,  D.C.,  Aug.  22,  1864,  to  Aug. 
24,  1865,  when  he  was  honorably  mustered  out  of  service.  Commissioner  of 
Illinois,  May  3,  1861,  for  establishing  a  State-arsenal.  Became  blind  in  1888 
from  disease  contracted  in  Florida  war,  and  died  in  New- York  City,  Dec.  27, 
1890. 


14  THE  CAIRO   EXPEDITION. 

ing  down  the  river,  bearing  ammunition  from  St.  Louis 
for  the  rebels.  The  whizzing  of  a  shot  was  too  pointed 
an  invitation  to  come  ashore  to  be  declined,  and  the 
steamer's  stock  of  munitions  of  war  was  taken  for  use  in 
our  own  army. 

To  show  the  great  prudence  of  the  general,  commanding 
the  expedition,  and  his  consideration  for  the  safety  of  his 
soldiers,  I  will  mention  what  was  stated,  by  those  near  to 
him;  "that  when  approaching  the  Big  Muddy  River 
he  proposed  that  the  platform  cars,  on  which  the  can- 
non were,  should  be  placed  in  front  and  the  locomotive 
in  the  rear  of  the  train,  so  that  in  case  of  being  attacked, 
they  could  use  the  guns  at  long  range,  and  retreat  if 
found  necessary,"  but  as  the  other  officers  of  the  com- 
mand did  not  agree  with  him,  the  train  proceeded  in  the 
usual  way. 

When  the  Milwaukee  muskets  were  being  cleaned  and 
put  into  order  for  returning,  Mr.  George  T.  Abbey  found 
many  of  them  with  more  than  one  cartridge  in  the  barrel 
and  some  had  five  or  six;  showing  how  little  the  boys 
knew  of  fire-arms  or  their  use,  having  reloaded  without 
discharging  the  guns. 

To  Gen.  Joseph  Stockton  thanks  were  due  for  his  valu- 
able assistance  in  obtaining  horses  for  the  artillery — he 
furnished  several  from  his  own  stock;  also  to  Col.  Roselle 
Marvin  Hough,  who  was  very  earnest  at  that  time  as  he 
was  subsequently  all  through  the  war. 

The  Cairo  expedition  was  hastily  prepared,  and  as 
before  stated,  furnished  with  such  arms  as  could  be 
obtained.  The  men,  mostly  in  their  everyday  clothes, 
some  with  overcoats,  but  more  without,  a  few  blankets, 
fewer  tents,  and  comparatively  without  camp-equipage  of 
any  kind.  The  starting  for  an  unknown  destination, 
ostensibly  for  Springfield,  the  tears  of  mothers,  wives, 
and  sisters;  the  fervent  blessings  of  friends;  the  screech- 
of  steam-whistles  at  1 1  o'clock  that  dark  Sunday  night 
made  an  impression  ineffaceable  from  the  memory  of  all 
those  who  were  present. 


THE   CAIRO   EXPEDITION.  1$ 

The  money  expended  for  the  Cairo  expedition  and  for 
fitting  out  two  regiments,  was  mostly  refunded  by  the 
government,  and  then  used  in  assisting  the  families  of 
those  in  the  army. 

Cook  County,  by  its  board  of  supervisors,  appropriated 
$30,000  to  assist  the  government,  and  the  speaker  was 
chairman  of  the  war-committee,  but  as  of  the  first  com- 
mittee, all  the  records  were  destroyed  in  the  fire  of  1871. 

The  first  citizens'  committee  continued  to  serve 
through  1861  and  1862,  and  was  succeeded  by  a  new  and 
larger  committee,  but  as  I  resigned  from  it,  I  can  only 
say  that  it  devoted  its  energies  mostly  to  the  assisting 
Gen.  John  Charles  Fremont  in  his  Missouri  campaign. 
Of  the  doings  of  the  last  committee  all  record  was  burned. 

It  must  seem  strange  to  the  young  people  of  today, 
that  a  war  came  upon  the  United  States  twenty-nine 
years  ago,  and  that  neither  the  Federal  or  State  govern- 
ment had  money  to  pay  men  or  to  buy  arms.  The 
general  government  had  but  few  arms,  and  the  states 
still  less. 

Secretary  -  of- War  John  B.  Floyd,  had  gradually 
depleted  the  northern  arsenals,  removing  the  arms  to 
southern  points,  from  which  they  were  taken  by  the 
rebels. 

It  should  be  remembered  and  made  a  matter  of  history 
that  the  first  money  raised  in  Illinois  for  the  war  was 
subscribed  by  citizens  of  Chicago. 

The  first  armed  force  sent  out  in  the  West  was  that 
sent  to  Cairo,  and  it  was  sent  from  Chicago. 

The  first  general  in  command  in  the  State  of  Illinois 
was  Richard  Kellogg  Swift,  a  citizen  of  Chicago. 

The  first  shot  fired  in  the  West  for  the  Union  was  a 
Chicago  shot,  from  a  Chicago  cannon,  trained  by  a  Chi- 
cago boy,  of  the  Chicago  Light  Artillery. 

Thanks  are  also  due  to  our  esteemed  citizen  E.  W. 
Blatchford  for  the  assistance  he  rendered  to  Mr.  Gates 
on  that  memorable  Sunday. 


l6  THE  CAIRO   EXPEDITION. 

Let  us  hope  that  the  horrors  of  war  may  never  be 
brought  upon  our  country,  and  that  peace  and  harmony 
may  henceforth  be  the  results  of  the  treasure  expended 
and  the  sacrifices  made  in  the  name  of  Liberty  and 
Union. 

With  the  foregoing,  I  have  the  pleasure  of  filing  a  copy 
of  an  address  delivered  by  Capt.  John  Conant  Long,  a 
member  of  the  Cairo  expedition,  at  a  meeting  held  to 
celebrate  the  twenty-seventh  anniversary  of  its  starting. 


